


Nico's Three Day Stay

by SweetToothFox



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Arguments, M/M, Suicide Attempt, Will getting pissed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-09-27 21:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10049192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetToothFox/pseuds/SweetToothFox
Summary: When Nico attempts suicide, he's taken to the hospital where Will works as a doctor. While Nico struggles to recover, Will tries to help his close friend.





	1. Day 1

For as long as he could remember, Will Solace had wanted to be a doctor. He wanted to save people’s lives, bring new lives into the world, help those leaving it. He didn’t want the credit, he just wanted the feeling that he had helped someone, done something good.

  
But there was one part of the job that he hated. Suicides. Whether it was an attempt or a body, he hated it. He knew that these were the people he didn’t know how to save. Sometimes it was even his friends. But whoever it was, he tried to care for them. The worse part was an attempted suicide, then a few days after the prescribed three-day stay at the hospital, the same person. In the morgue.

  
Will was having lunch with a few colleagues when his pager buzzed. He glanced at it. Fuck. An attempted suicide. Not bothering to clean up, Will rushed over to the patient’s room. He stopped at the door. He knew the face in that room, the pale skin, dark hair. It was Nico di Angelo.

  
“Nico!” Will said, rushing over. “God Nico, what happened?”

  
Nico didn’t respond. The nurse in the room supplied an answer. “Overdosed on painkillers. He was nearly gone when his sister found him and called 911. He’s still weak.”

  
Will nodded, his training coming back to him. “Has he been flushed?”

  
The nurse nodded. “Do you want a minute?”

  
Will didn’t respond, but the nurse understood. He left the room, quietly closing the door.

  
Nico’s eyes were open, but he wasn’t responding. The occasional blink was all that separated from the bodies in the morgue.

  
“Nico,” Will clutched his friend’s hand. “What happened? Why did you do it? You nearly died! Why?”

  
“I couldn’t take it anymore. All of it.” Nico whispered. “It was too much.”

  
“What was?” Will asked.

  
“Everything. I was under too much pressure, too much stress, had too much worry. I still do. Trying to commit suicide doesn’t change that. Only death does.”

  
“No.” Will said. “You’re wrong. That pressure, stress, and worry is simply transferred to those who knew you and were close to you. Nico, you know that.”

 

A faint smile touched the other boy’s light pink lips. “I know it better than anyone.”

  
“So why? Why did you do it?” Will’s voice cracked. “Nico, you know it would destroy me if you died. Why didn’t you come to me?”

  
Nico shrugged. “You’re a doctor. To you, everything is scientific. Emotions cloud judgment. I didn’t know what you would say to this.”

  
“I would have taken time off from work to take you to a therapist, drive you home, and cuddle with you until you fell asleep.” Will told him.

  
“Now you don’t have to take time off from work.” Nico almost smiled. Was this all a joke to him?

  
“Not funny, Neeks! You’re here for three days and then what? You leave, buy painkillers from the pharmacy on the corner, and overdose, coming back to me a few hours later on a metal slab?” Will was almost crying. “You could have come to me, or Bianca, or any of us. Hell, you could have gone to your dad! Not just end your life!” Tears streamed down the doctor’s face. “Nico, I love you. I would never want you to die, and certainly not like this. I want you to die from old age, peacefully, with me at your side. I want us to die like in The Notebook. Not you to die from this.”

Nico pushed himself up and embraced the other boy. “It’s okay, Will.”

“NO, it’s NOT!” Will shouted. “It’s not okay! I love you, Nico, and I don’t want this to happen to you, ever. Okay? Never again, promise me!”

“I can’t,” Nico said. “I can’t promise you I’ll never try again. I can promise you a lot of things, Will, but this isn’t one of them.”

Will sank to the floor. “I’m getting you a therapist.” He said numbly. “And that’s all I can do for you.”

Nico started to argue, but shut his mouth and sank back onto his pillows.


	2. Day 2

Will didn’t visit Nico for the next of the day, even though Nico saw the doctor walk past his open door several times. He didn’t visit him all morning of the next day, either. A therapist came and assured Nico “Everything was okay,” and “Together, we’ll get through this,” which didn’t help Nico’s mood. He felt bad for hurting Will, but he had told the truth. He couldn’t be sure he would never attempt suicide again, and he wasn’t about to give the other boy false hope.

Annabeth and Percy came to visit but Nico pretended to be asleep. He didn’t want to have to confront them. He knew that Annabeth would give a lecture like Will had and Percy would just stand at the back of the room, looking at Nico with that gaze of his, the one filled with pain and disappointment that somehow conveyed more than any of the lectures Nico got.

Nico knew that after tomorrow he would have to leave, being put back to survive on his own. He also knew that he wouldn’t make it to the end of the week. But there was nothing Nico or Will could do. Rules were rules.

Close to the end of the day, Will came in. He was carrying a large tray of food, which he put on the table.

“Eat.” The doctor said, before retreating to the back of the room and sitting down, arms crossed, unspeaking. He didn’t look at Nico, just stared at the opposite wall.

Nico slowly ate. The food wasn’t bad, but Nico didn’t feel like eating. However, he knew Will would make him. So he did.

When Nico finished, he put the tray on his bedside table. Will followed it with his eyes, then rose. He walked to the side of Nico’s bed.

“You’re leaving at the end of the day tomorrow.” Will said in a hollow voice. “I can’t do anything about it, I’ve tried.”

Nico didn’t know what to say to console the other boy.

“I knew that, I guess.” Will said. “I’m also perfectly aware that I’ll see you the day after that at the latest.”

Nico had no words. There were no words to say for what would happen, what he was doing to Will. There was nothing either man could do to make it better. Nico was so hurt, so torn, he just wanted it to end.

Will reached up and brushed the dark hair out of Nico’s eyes. He smiled wistfully. “I’m going to miss you, you know. I’m going to miss seeing you when I get out of work and you’re waiting to drive me home, before going to your place. You used to do that all the time, Nico.” Will’s voice cracked. “We used to go to the movies and find the most childish movie to watch just so we could laugh. We would find all the little faults and make fun of them. We would buy a ton of popcorn and feed it to each other, piece by piece.” Tears ran down the doctor’s face. “What happened, Nico? What changed?”

Nico opened his mouth, then closed it again. He knew what had happened. Nico had shut himself off from the world. He’d withdrawn from his friends and remaining family. He’d fled into himself and the darkness there, and it would have killed him. It almost did.

“I was an idiot.” Nico said. “I said. I pulled away from those who cared about me. I’m sorry, Will, I really am.”

Will cried harder. Nico pulled him up into a close embrace, muttering comforting words and stroking the blond boy’s hair like Will did to Nico when they sat on the couch, talking. He let Will cry and cried along with him, letting all the pain flow out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really happy with this so far but I'm not sure how to end it so that will come when it's done. Any and all feedback welcomed and read!


	3. Day 3

Nico woke up early, with a sense of dread. Before six o’clock today, Nico would have to leave. He would go back to his crappy apartment and be dead before the week was over.

Nico lay in bed until 7:30. He knew Will would arrive at exactly 7:45 with food from the canteen. Nico slowly got dressed and waited, feeling horrible.

Will arrived with pancakes, Bianca, Percy, and Annabeth. He wordlessly handed Nico the food and Nico gobbled it down (why were the pancakes blue?), not looking up at his visitors until he was finished.

“You have three options and one demand.” Announced Will. “Option one, you live with your sister.”

Then Annabeth spoke. “Option two, you stay with me and Percy in our guest room.”

“And option three?” Asked Nico.

“You move in with me.” Said Will. “You have to move out of your apartment, Nico. You’re not allowed to live alone. Doctor’s orders.”

Nico swallowed. “What’s the demand?”

Percy spoke up. “All your pills, all your knives and other weapons. Even vitamins and antidepressants. You turn everything in to us. And each of us will have your credit card on text alert. Anytime you use it, what you bought, and where.”

“You’ll have a chaperone everywhere you go,” added Bianca, “One of us. Will and I will receive updates from your therapist, whom you _will_ see weekly.”

Nico nodded. “Do I have a say in this?”

“No.” All four chorused.

“Fine.” Nico hesitated. He took a deep breath, considering each person’s eyes. Bianca’s were full of hope and sadness. Annabeth’s were stubborn, but the lines around them were softer than usual. Percy’s sea-blue eyes overflowed with sadness, but it was Will’s piercing sky blue eyes that Nico hated to look at. Will’s eyes were full of hope for Nico, but also disappointment and anger and sadness rolled up into two orbs of emotion that Nico couldn’t bear to meet. Nico nodded as if assuring himself of something.

“I’ll stay with Will.”

Will smiled. “I was hoping you would say that. We’ll help you pack, and then we can do whatever you want. Watch a movie, go to the park, anything. We just want you to be happy.”

Nico looked at the four people in his room again. This time, he saw his friends, people who would do anything for him.

“I don’t care what we do. I just want us to do it together.”


	4. Epilogue

For the first month and a half, Nico slept in his own bed in Will's apartment. Many nights, he woke up screaming and thrashing or crying. Will would comfort him when this happened, no matter what time it was. He would whisper to Nico softly, carrying the other boy to his own bed. Nico would slowly calm down, embracing Will.

Nico began to just fall asleep in Will’s bed. The slight smell of antiseptics mixed with the almond butter lotion the doctor used comforted Nico. Gradually, he began to recover. Some nights were still sleepless, or full of nightmares, but those became more and more uncommon.

And, gradually, things got better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! I finally got this thing done after a long time working on it and crumpling up bits of paper when I didn't like what I wrote... Thank you to everyone who left kudos, you really helped me push through!


End file.
